YTSL
@ytsl.bsky.social
I really f**king love Hong Kong, and Funassyi! Bluesky user #55,617 -- joined in May 2023! -- but am also "over there" too. Yes, I'm still straddling between Twitter and here (because there still are not enough Hongkongers and Funassyi fans here!).
I cannot emphasize how, strange but true, in 2019 (and the first half of 2020), returning home and watching Funassyi videos at the end of a day that sometimes included being tear gassed helped me to get through it all... and avoid having nightmares when I finally did go to sleep. 🥹
2019/8/30 ふなっしー 夏祭りを歌う
YouTube video by risusayu
youtube.com
So so fucked up. We know that these people will be detained, potentially jailed for a long time (with all that entails in Myanmar), conscripted straight into the military, even if neither of those things happen... Myanmar isn't exactly safe. /sigh
Gillian Brockell@gillianbrockell.com · 6h agoThis plane landed in Myanmar about three hours ago. This is the third ICE flight to Myanmar this year. Burmese deportees in 2025 were immediately sent to a torture facility next to the airport, according to Myanmar Now. Weeks later, not all of them had emerged.
It's now seven years since I ceased to be a tear gas virgin... 🥹
YTSL@ytsl.bsky.social · last yr.BTW, don't want to rain on anyone's parade -- I mean we've already had so much rain in Hong Kong today -- but... today's the 6th anniversary of the first time I ate/tasted/smelled tear gas... and I have to say, six years on, it's (still) hard to forget nor forgive. 😔
1/ I got a bottle of this Echigo Tsurukame junmai daiginjo earlier today. When researching it, was a bit upset to find out that it was brewed with wine (rather than rice) yeast as I don't love this new innovation. But when I tasted it this evening, it was actually pretty drinkable...
Open letter to the SCMP from a bereaved daughter: linkedin.com/posts/sofia-... SCMP suicide guidelines: scmp.com/policies-and... HKJA guidelines: hkja.org.hk/en/hkja-guid...
Actually, my days would improve if AI disappeared tomorrow. No more looking at an image and wondering if it's real or fake -- or getting upset and disgusted with people I know for using AI, sharing obvious AI slop, etc.
no brain, only alison@alisonborealis.bsky.social · 14h agoAbsolutely nothing about my days would change if AI disappeared tomorrow. I would have to click through on the search engines to actually read the definitions of the words I look up, I guess. But I should be doing more of that anyway.
Doreen Kong can openly criticise because she's a pro-Beijing former lawmaker. The pro-democrat former lawmakers can't because they're in jail or have been silenced in other ways.
Tom Grundy@tomgrundy.hongkongfp.com · 14h agoA former lawmaker has criticised Legislative Council members for not speaking up for students who were allegedly abused by a basketball coach. hongkongfp.com/2026/08/05/e... The coach was not prosecuted as a police investigation found “insufficient evidence” to press charges.
Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, UK appeal tribunal confirms in landmark ruling www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260804-ant...
Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, UK appeal tribunal confirms in landmark ruling
The UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a landmark ruling that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism and constitutes a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. The judgmen…
middleeastmonitor.com
Hail Funassyi, a Pear (Fairy) held in high esteem indeed! 😘
ふなっしー 御神輿で登場 船橋市場だよ！全員集合2015（2015.10.11）
YouTube video by Casa de Borinquen
youtube.com
The irony of the Taipei Times website reporting on China's "united front" activities to influence Taiwan while allowing for Xiaohungshu (rednote) ads 🚩
The best argument against giving the police access to any technology (or much funding at all frankly) is the behavior of the average policeman, part 1/837383(?)
Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · yesterdayNew: Police are being told to hide the fact that they're using Flock to pull people over and arrest them in both encounters with citizens but ALSO in their official police reports: www.404media.co/do-not-menti...
Bluesky's been glitchy in recent days for me. Even more of a problem: my email account! Encountered this earlier today... and I am too tired to try looking again to see if it's been unglitched this evening! 😭
This thread... The videos are SO awful but I think people need to see this to understand how horrible Chinese racism/ethnonationalism/jingoism can be and how AI helps enable the spread of its messages.
Manya Koetse@manyapan.bsky.social · 2d agoChinese viral AI videos are turning foreigners into villains, flooding Chinese social media. They depict foreigners as threats to China’s social, moral, and national order. Strong, confident Chinese people confront, violently beat, and humiliate them in defense of their country. See more below🧵
There still are far more Hongkongers, Japanese, Malaysians, etc. on Twitter than Bluesky. Though it does seem to be the case that I interact with more Canadians, Europeans (excluding Brits) and New Zealanders here than on Twitter.
Fernando Gros@fernandogros.com · 2d agoThe thing about the "Bluesky is a haven for liberals" discourse is it's so myopically US-centric. Twitter flourished because it was global. In its hey day it was always 75%+ non-US users. Bluesky isn't failing because it's too liberal. It's failing because it's not global.
Would they attract Mainland Chinese buyers if they had (only) Chinese names? I mean, look at the Mainland Chinese tourists who fixate on taking photos of Hong Kong street signs because they have ENGLISH as well as (Traditional) Chinese script on them.
Joel Chan@kjoules.org · 2d agoFormer CE Leung Chun-ying asks, "What's the deal with new residential developments having English names but without Chinese names?" The Hemlock has some thoughts: www.biglychee.com/2026/08/04/f...
Got a Champions 2025-26 t-shirt to go with my 2003-2004 Unbeaten and 2014 FA Cup Winners t-shirts. Sorry, am not getting any jerseys with DEEL on it. (Don't have any with Visit Rwanda on either.) And for the record, my favourite replica jersey remains that for the 1997-1998 season.
YTSL@ytsl.bsky.social · yesterdayMy recent order came inside this (within the outside packaging). And must say it felt nice.
If you go to Shikoku, you stand a good chance of seeing and riding on an Anpanman-themed train.
Nevin Thompson@nevint.bsky.social · 2d agoThis is Ehime, but, over the mountains, Kochi is the home of Yanase Takashi, the creator of Anpanman; there's a fantastic museum in Kami. Yanase famously dreamed up the character after witnessing the wartime destruction Japan and the resulting hunger in the immediate postwar years.
Have not enough people seen this? Where is the Funassyi love??!!
YTSL@ytsl.bsky.social · 2d agoLatest Funassyi news: the Pear (Fairy) has donated 2.74 million Yen to Kumamoto earthquake relief, and has the donation receipt to prove it! (As a fan said many years back: there probably is no Japanese entertainment personality who's donated as much to charity in as short a time as Funassyi!)
Oh my goodness. I play her music to every one of my Chinese classes. Her Carmen is just jaw-to-the-floor awesome. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqI4...
葛蘭 - 卡門 王天林電影《野玫瑰之戀》Carmen [GeLan / Grace Chang]
YouTube video by MrHuang HK
youtube.com
Dylan Cheung@dylancheung.bsky.social · 2d agoIt's been reported that Grace Chang, Hong Kong's preeminent Mandarin screen diva of the 50s, passed away this afternoon, one day shy of her 93rd birthday. Watch Mambo Girl and The Wild, Wild Rose to see her at the height of her powers.
Yes, "The Wild Wild Rose" and "The Mambo Girl" are in Mandarin. In the 1950s, "Hong Kong was a hub of movie production in all manner of Chinese languages, from Hokkien to Shanghainese and many others, as the city was often the first port of refuge for those escaping mainland China".
Before the 1980s, There Was Another Golden Era of Hong Kong Film
The story of Cathay Studios, also known as MP&GI, which helped make Hong Kong into the Chinese Hollywood
zolimacitymag.com
YTSL@ytsl.bsky.social · 2d agoRIP to a cinema great who will live forever thanks to her appearance in films like "The Wild Wild Rose" (Hong Kong, 1960). And, also, through the songs she sang in those films and elsewhere.
RIP to a cinema great who will live forever thanks to her appearance in films like "The Wild Wild Rose" (Hong Kong, 1960). And, also, through the songs she sang in those films and elsewhere.
葛蘭 - 說不出的快活 電影《野玫瑰之戀》Ja Jambo [GeLan / Grace Chang]
YouTube video by MrHuang HK
youtube.com
Dylan Cheung@dylancheung.bsky.social · 2d agoIt's been reported that Grace Chang, Hong Kong's preeminent Mandarin screen diva of the 50s, passed away this afternoon, one day shy of her 93rd birthday. Watch Mambo Girl and The Wild, Wild Rose to see her at the height of her powers.
I'm amazed there's room for all that in a single aisle...
Greg Pak@gregpak.net · 3d agoyou can find me with the rice mixes, couscous, grains, and soy sauce
Latest Funassyi news: the Pear (Fairy) has donated 2.74 million Yen to Kumamoto earthquake relief, and has the donation receipt to prove it! (As a fan said many years back: there probably is no Japanese entertainment personality who's donated as much to charity in as short a time as Funassyi!)
Massive Attack “surprised” Why are Westerners always shocked to find there’s no freedom of speech in Singapore? FWIW the SG government was persecuting my husband on his death bed, over a blog article and at the same time a govt crony was suing him for speaking out against Islamophobia. RIP Kenneth 💔
Massive Attack respond after Singapore ban over Palestine display
The UK band says they are "surprised and disappointed" by their treatment over shouting "free Palestine" at a concert there.
bbc.co.uk
There are times when being on Bluesky can feel like one is a fly on the wall watching and listening to a bunch of Americans interacting with one another and doing such as opining loudly about your city, culture, etc. WITHOUT THEIR REALISING YOU ARE IN THE ROOM AND THUS NOT SELF-CENSORING.
YTSL@ytsl.bsky.social · 2d agoI wish there were more people from outside the US on Bluesky. But yes, there are indeed a good number of people who are NOT from the US on here. (Also, for those who didn't realise: some of us non-Americans CAN and DO write in and read English!)
"KHRG received 1,701 photographs displaying the impacts of various human rights violations committed January to June 2026. The photographs of these violations cover air strikes, drone strikes, shelling, landmines, shoot-on-sight tactics, arbitrary arrests & more" #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar 1/
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)@karenhrg.bsky.social · 2d agoPhoto Set: Burma Army human rights violations in Southeast Burma (January to June 2026) See the full photo set - shorturl.at/nQxWR #KHRG #humanrights #whatshappeninginmyanmar
A measure of how low Jackie Chan's stock is in Hong Kong. No mention of his attendance at Nansun Shi's memorial... unlike for Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia, Tsui Hark,Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Carina Lau, Chow Yun-fat, Sammo Hung, Zhou Xun, Li Bingbing, Jia Zhangke, Feng Xiaogang, Kevin Tsai and Gwei Lun-mei.
Celebrities and industry figures pay tribute at Nansun Shi’s memorial
More than 100 celebrities and industry figures from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan gathered on Sunday (Aug 2) to bid farewell to veteran film producer and media executive Nansun Shi, who died la...
thestandard.com.hk
Dylan Cheung@dylancheung.bsky.social · 2d agoRare Jackie Chan sighting in Hong Kong yesterday at Nansun Shi's memorial service. Always fascinated by who in Hong Kong he'll still give face to, a list I'm sure gets shorter and shorter each passing year.
UK--based friends: Hoper's Base, a Hong Kong Yellow Economic Circle member famed for its siu mei (Cantonese roast meats), will open soon in London! I expect it to be fully booked ASAP during its soft opening but do consider going there after it opens for real! uk.hopersbase.com/softopening
Hopers' Base Soft Opening
A short menu, lunch and dinner, booking only. 11 August to 13 September, Covent Garden.
uk.hopersbase.com
